A Headman's Thatched House
The Hirota Family Residence Main House (廣田家住宅主屋) is a large thatched farmhouse of 1908 (Meiji 41) in Kamisakabe 2-chome, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on 24 June 2021 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records it as a single-storey timber house with a thatched roof under temporary copper sheathing, 240 square metres in building area and altered in 1976, registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country; registration number 28-0759.
The Hirota Family Residence Main House stands toward the north of the plot, on its east side, facing south. The Hirota served for generations as village headmen, shōya, and of the six registered structures on the property this is the centrepiece.
Structure and Plan
The house measures nine bays by six. The roof is irimoya-zukuri, entered from the long side (hirairi), its kayabuki thatch provisionally sheathed in copper. Tiled lean-tos wrap all four sides, and an attached outbuilding stands to the east.
Inside, the house divides sharply between east and west. The east end is a doma, an earthen-floored area for cooking and farm work. The raised floor to the west is laid out as a regular rokumadori, six rooms in a neat grid, the plan used by well-off farming families who needed a sequence of rooms in which to receive guests.
Why It Was Registered
The Agency values the Hirota Family Residence Main House as a large farmhouse that keeps the Meiji-era form of a family who served as headmen for generations. Its thatched roof, regular six-room plan and formal entrance together show in concrete terms how a leading farming household of the late Meiji years presented itself.
Northern Amagasaki is now a residential district, and a thatched house of this size stands out in the street scene simply by surviving.
What to Look For
The first thing to notice on the Hirota Family Residence Main House is the shape of its roof. The great irimoya-zukuri roof, hipped below and gabled above, keeps the steep pitch of thatch. Copper sheeting now covers the grass, so from a distance it can pass for a metal roof, but the angle and the deep, rounded eaves line belong to a thatched house.
Round the foot of that roof runs a lean-to geya roofed in sangawara-buki pan tiles on all four sides. Thatch above and tile below is a common arrangement in large Meiji farmhouses, and the two tiers show clearly in the Agency's photograph of the south front.
In the middle of the south front is the shikidai, the formal entrance for guests. A headman's house received officials and village meetings, so it needed a dignified door separate from the everyday entrance into the earthen-floored work area. From the west post of the shikidai, the garden gate and fence run out to enclose the garden in front of the inner rooms.
Visiting
The Hirota Family Residence Main House is a private home, and Amagasaki City states that it is not open to the public, so the interior cannot be visited. A photograph of the south front is published in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database.
Q&A
- When was the Hirota Family Residence Main House built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to 1908 (Meiji 41), with alterations in 1976 (Shōwa 51).
- Is the Hirota Family Residence Main House thatched?
- Yes. The Agency records a thatched roof under temporary copper sheathing. The hipped-and-gabled thatch is now covered in copper, with tiled lean-to roofs on all four sides.
- What is the layout of the Hirota Family Residence Main House?
- An earthen-floored work area on the east and six raised rooms in a regular grid on the west, with a formal shikidai entrance in the middle of the south front and an attached outbuilding on the east.
- Can I visit the Hirota Family Residence Main House?
- No. It is a private home and Amagasaki City states that it is not open to the public. A photograph is available in the Agency database.
- When was the Hirota Family Residence Main House registered?
- On 24 June 2021 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Hirota Family Residence Main House (廣田家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 162 Kamisakabe 2-chome, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2021/6/24 (Reiwa 3) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber, thatched (temporary copper sheathing), building area 240 square metres, 9 by 6 bays |
| Owner | Not listed in the Agency database (private residence) |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (private residence) |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties: Hirota Family Residence Main House (in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013856
- Cultural Heritage Online: Hirota Family Residence Main House (in Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/553435
- Amagasaki City: Hirota Family Residence, registered cultural properties of Amagasaki (in Japanese)
- https://www.city.amagasaki.hyogo.jp/manabu/bunkazai_0/1028308/1028313/1028798.html
Last verified: 2026.10.19
